---OVERVIEW---
Having listened to classical music for a long time I had never been attracted to the Puccini CD's which I constantly knew were there in the stores. It wasn't until I saw the film Heavenly Creatures (a definite watch) that I discovered the true impact of Puccini's works. ... Read review
Madama Butterfly tells the story of the Japanese geisha Cio-Cio-San--rapturously sung here ... more
by Miriam Gauci--and her love for her American husband, Pinkerton, who cynically regards their marriage as a thing of the moment, to be dismissed when he returns to America. Their affair can only end in tragedy, though the premiere in 1904 at La Scala in Milan ended in farce, the audience responding to the bird-noises designed to evoke the Japanese countryside by making their own farmyard noises. Puccini withdrew and revised the opera, leading to its eventual acclaim and permanent place in the repertoire. This selection of highlights concentrates on Act I, though includes all the most memorable of Puccini's lush and extravagantly romantic arias, with Act II's famous "Un bel di, vedremo" being overwhelming in its passion. All the cast are in strong voice, though Gauci really is exceptional, and conductor Alexander Rahbari elicits the rich orchestral sound so vital to Puccini's luxuriant musical world, such that this release really is a sensual delight. At super-budget price, you'd be as well advised to invest in the complete version of Madama Butterfly from which these highlights are taken (Rahbari and the Czecho-Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra have also recorded Puccini's La Bohème, a performance again available as highlights or complete). --Gary S. Dalkin
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Advantages: Moving, emotional and dramatic Disadvantages: Unless a big fan of opera's or Puccini it does not really warrant sole purchase
---OVERVIEW---
Having listened to classical music for a long time I had never been attracted to the Puccini CD's which I constantly knew were there in the stores. It wasn't until I saw the film Heavenly Creatures (a definite watch) that I discovered the true impact of Puccini's works. Using the Humming chorus from Madame Butterfly to powerful effect I was driven to buy a CD of his best works.
--Puccini--
... ...Italian
BORN - 1858
DIED - 1924
MAJOR WORKS - Manon Lescaut, La Boheme, Tosca, Madame Butterfly, Turandot.
---PRICE---
At £5 a go, buying and getting hold of Puccini's music is no problem at all and is available in most high street music chains (HMV, Virgin etc)
Again like many of my other classical CD's I recommend the NAXOS label for quality and price.
---MADAME BUTTERFLY--- more
---OVERVIEW---
Having listened to classical music for a long time I had never been attracted to the Puccini CD's which I constantly knew were there in the stores. It wasn't until I saw the film Heavenly Creatures (a definite watch) that I discovered the true impact of Puccini's works. Using the Humming chorus from Madame Butterfly to powerful effect I was driven to buy a CD of his best works.
--Puccini--
FULL NAME - Giacomo Puccini NATIONALITY - Italian BORN - 1858 DIED - 1924 MAJOR WORKS - Manon Lescaut, La Boheme, Tosca, Madame Butterfly, Turandot.
---PRICE---
At £5 a go, buying and getting hold of Puccini's music is no problem at all and is available in most high street music chains (HMV, Virgin etc) Again like many of my other classical CD's I recommend the NAXOS label for quality and price.
---MADAME BUTTERFLY---
The Madame Butterfly opera is in 3 acts (in the revised version) with the music by Giacomo Puccini and it was first performed in 1904 in Milan. On the Naxos best of compliation, Madame Butterfly is in three parts. Bimba dagli occhi pieni di malia (3min37secs), Un bel di vedremo (4min35secs) and the Humming chorus (2min45secs).
--Plot--
Madame Butterfly is quite different from most other operas. It is intimate, taking place completely within one house in the Japanese city of Nagasaki (which I'm sure we all know for worse reasons). It involves an American officer and a Japanese girl in a fairly straightforward but intense love plot. They both fall in love, she loses him and then sadly she commits suicide.
--Music Analysis--
The first piece (and my least favourite)on the CD is Bimba dagli occhi pieni di malia. It is like a disscusion between the two lovers and is quite slow at times, however it acts as a foundation for the next two much stronger pieces, which manage to put across much more emotive feelings. Un bel di vedremo is a much more passionate piece and to those not knowing Puccini is even recognisable, involving a solo from the woman in the opera it builds up more and more power expressing the woman's feelings. Finally and my personal favourite we have the Humming chorus. This piece is quiet throughout and puts across a very reflective felling.
---CONCLUSION---
Un bel di vedremo and the Humming chorus are by far the most popular of the three discussed Madame Butterfly songs on the CD and any purchase should defintely include them. Unless your a large fan of Puccini I would only recommend getting Madame Butterfly as part of a compliation CD like the Naxos one as then you can appreiciate the rest of Puccini's works.
Advantages: Scotto very good, overall strong cast, conducting not too fierce, well recorded Disadvantages: not as 'special' as some other sets, cast not very memorable even if able
a rather straight-up-and-down performance. Admittedly Pinkerton can be a sort of stock character but his performance on the Karajan film with Mirella Freni is superior. Despite his current position as 'primo tenore' in the world, venerated above the rest of the old timers like Giacomo Aragall, Jose Carreras or the memory of Luciano Pavarotti, plenty of Domingo's Puccini work in the 1970s on record although well sung in the conventional sense - warm mid voice, 'tasteful' phrasing, high notes present etc - it lacked shading and identity. Listen to the difference between his performance of Des Grieux in Manon Lescuat with Caballe (1970s EMI) and Freni (1980s DG) to hear what I mean. The regal phrasing and careful control of shading only came later. Pinkerton appears to be a rather thankless role however, with Pavarotti sounding rather less than ...
Advantages: Everything you could ever want from a classical CD Disadvantages: none
Giacomo Puccini
30. MadamaButterfly
Composed by Giacomo Puccini
31. Nabucco
Composed by Giuseppe Verdi
32. Les pêcheurs de perles
Composed by Georges Bizet
33. (Il) trovatore
Composed by Giuseppe Verdi
34. Turandot
Composed by Giacomo Puccini
35. Carmina Burana
Composed by Carl Orff
36. Messa da Requiem
Composed by Giuseppe Verdi
37. Messiah
Composed by George Frideric Handel
38. Also sprach Zarathustra, 'Thus spake Zarathustra'
Composed by Richard Strauss
39. (The) Planets
Composed by Gustav Holst
40. Toccata and Fugue in D minor
Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach
41. Symphony No. 40 in G minor
Composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
42. Symphony No. 5 in C minor
Composed by Ludwig van Beethoven
43. Romeo and Juliet
Composed by Sergey Prokofiev
44. Concerto ...
Advantages: All good strong performances with some absolutely glorious Disadvantages: Some of the arias do not show the singers at their best
Ferrier, very italianate and her vivid voice can be exciting - unusually so for this sort of music.
MadamaButterfly (Madame Butterfly), opera Un bel di, vedremo
Composed by Giacomo Puccini
Performed by London Philharmonia Orchestra
with Ghena Dimitrova
Conducted by Anton Guadagno
> A strong big voice but is she at all like a young girl? probably not. She is fierce in the extract leading up to the aria and we can guess that she would have been amazing in the 'Death of Butterfly' scene at the end of the opera. But here, the first thing you notice is the rather wobbly start to Un Bel Di - maybe less a wobble and just a big broad vibrato (a pulse going through the voice) either way a little too strong. She improves after that but really does not match Renata Tebaldi (smooth and strong) or beautiful voiced Butterflys (Victoria de los ...
![Puccini: Madama Butterfly [IMPORT] -](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/103968238.jpg "Puccini: Madama Butterfly [IMPORT] -")
